Exclusive Methodology of Psychological Counseling
Emotional Autonomy
Each patient needs a unique and singular look that captures individual needs, through which the most appropriate tools and approaches will be established for each situation.
Therefore, from my clinical experience as a cognitive behavior therapist, I developed my own methodology through integrative practice.
The Emotional Autonomy methodology tries to use the most advanced approaches and tools currently in clinical psychology in an integrated way with the objective of optimizing psychological treatment.
We work on the recognition of emotions and what causes suffering, self-care, emotional fulfillment, the act of taking responsibility for your own emotions and also the acceptance of situations. Thus, identifying what can be modified by the patient, placing him as the protagonist of changes in his or her own life.
Emotional Autonomy enables the patient to get to know the tools to start a process of transformation in whatever he or she wants to change in his or her life. Emotional autonomy opens up new possibilities for the way of dealing with everyday situations, in addition to working with a sense of self-responsibility in the face of emotions, in order to develop more awareness, autonomy and well-being.
In this way, a session becomes much more than a psychological consultation, but a premium experience of cultivating and developing emotional stability.
Discover Emotional Autonomy
Developed from years of clinical practice and based on scientifically proven approaches, adding to the experience with mindfulness practices and contact with Buddhism, a unique methodology emerged: Emotional Autonomy.
This methodology is described in 5 acts.
Becoming aware
Becoming aware is the beginning of a journey of change. From well-conducted key questions, the patient becomes able to identify whether he is suffering, what the source of this suffering is and how he himself is responsible or not for the aspects of what he feels.
These are the main questions to be asked at this initial moment:
- Do I recognize that I am suffering?
- What is its nature and where does my suffering come from?
- Am I seeing my suffering only outside myself, without taking any responsibility for what I am feeling?
- Am I willing to take responsibility for the aspects of my life that bring me suffering?
I can only change aspects that I recognize are my own attitudes and, therefore, my responsibility.
Basic psychoeducation: In this first act, we learn to identify what we are feeling and what our thoughts about the situation are.
What is my responsibility and what is the responsibility of others: Learning to differentiate what is mine and what is from the other is the main skill to be developed in the 1st Act.
Seeking the approval of others: As I learn to better identify which thoughts reflect my perspective, I begin to identify the motivator behind my actions. Am I doing this because I really want to or am I doing this because I am seeking the approval of the other?
One of the main causes of the chronic feeling of emptiness is to be chronically seeking the approval of others as a form of emotional fulfillment. "Whoever is feeling emotionally empty, is looking for fulfillment in a state of misalignment with himself."
Taking responsibility for the well-being of others is often the biggest pitfall in this process of self-knowledge. We often believe that our well-being exists only when we are satisfying the eyes of someone else outside ourselves.
Clarity does not really begin to appear until we begin to let go of the threads that taking responsibility for the way other people feel has tied us up with. This happens when we start taking responsibility for our own thoughts. When we give ourselves the right to be the subject of our thoughts.
Taking responsibility for my emotions
Learning to identify that I am not in alignment with myself and learning to bring the focus back is the main objective of Act II. This involves the development of meta-cognition, which is the ability to look at my own thoughts and emotions with a certain distance.
Mental clarity arises when I begin to shift the focus from the other's well-being to my own well-being, deciding not to constantly seek approval from others. From there, genuine responsibility for my own thoughts begins to emerge. This is the equivalent of awakening my inner emotional reference center.
While I seek the approval of others, I cannot really move. I need to be constantly looking out and asking: is that right? it this it? That's how it's done? This is what it means to seek the approval of others.
We end up being so conditioned to seek feedback or approval outside ourselves that when it does not come, we have the feeling that we are confused and that we don't know what to do or how to act. This occurs when we get used to looking for love in all the wrong places.
And what does it mean to look for love in all the wrong places?
Seeking love anywhere outside yourself first. At first this may seem like an extremely radical attitude. Whenever my sense of self-worth depends on someone else's approval, I'm setting the stage for attitudes of insecurity and vulnerability.
When I have to prove my own worth with an external attitude, I put myself in a situation where I condition the affection and emotional fulfillment that I allow myself.
When we create an emotional center with more stability and fulfillment, external situations have a reduced emotional impact. The triggers activated by them do not require that this nucleus be redefined at all times due to the outside, and this is called resilience.
Most people put their own value at stake with each interaction with their environment. Seeking to prove to each new situation their own sense of integrity and self-worth. This creates a lot of anxiety.
A mental equation similar to this is established: if I have this, this and this my personal value will be guaranteed. Before who?
The moment we take responsibility for our attitudes and thoughts, we can change them.
And the way you feel begins to be affected by the fact that you are willing to take responsibility for who you are. The emotional aspect is the fuel that will move the entire gear. When you are "on fire" and recognize your own worth, this is evident in the actions you take from this place.
Self-confidence begins to emerge.
The resources I have available in cognitive terms are directly related to my emotional state. Act II has to do with realizing whether the focus is on me or outside myself, when I'm looking for other people's approval. Learning to strengthen my own mental focus, begins to outline for myself what really does me good, and what I am doing solely to not disturb others. I then begin to understand what really moves me.
Emotional fulfillment
We are driven by our emotional side, whether we are aware of it or not. Whatever we do, we do it because we instinctively believe that we will feel better doing whatever we are doing. We often do not question this automatism of our own mind. We just go on automatic. However, many times, our mind is confused as to where to look for this fulfillment, and often it searches only outside ourselves for it.
When I am seeking the approval of others, I begin to create a mental trap that always leaves me empty, as I hope that the other will give me what I myself should feel.
But when I start to think for myself, I start to experience a more consistent feeling of emotional fulfillment. Act III begins to associate my thoughts with what I am feeling consistently.
As I discover what fills me emotionally, I come into contact viscerally with what really moves me: with my own values.
As I realize that I have control over this, I begin to develop a healthy sense of emotional integrity, self-respect and self-love, which is the foundation of mental and emotional health.
Resisting x Accepting (Mechanisms of cognitive functioning)
As I learn from my own emotional experience what really fulfills me, I open up the possibility of undoing self-sabotaging attitudes that are deeply rooted in previous conditioning that arose out of being confused about what really moves me.
Resistance: Mental suffering always arises when there is some level of emotional resistance, when I am functioning out of resistance I am constantly fighting against what I do not want. There is no peace when the mind is constantly in this state. Resisting suffering causes it to be projected on situations and people, giving rise to safety behaviors (compensatory attitudes) to contain the disturbance that resistance causes. The essence of any mental suffering always begins with resistance.
Acceptance: When I learn to accept a situation, I am letting go of the tug of war with myself. Thus, the psychic suffering that comes from maintaining the tension begins to ease. When I begin to accept a situation, I free my mind to then start looking creatively (and not reactively) at what I really want. This is what accepting a situation really means, as opposed to using all my energy to deny and fight against the whole situation at hand. Acceptance will always generate clarity and new points of view more associated with what I really want in any given situation.
Living from your own self (Value-based living)
As I learn to accept what really moves me in each situation, I become able to respond without so much resistance / suffering.
I also become able to accept who I really am and to change accordingly, moving through life using what really moves me as a guide for my decisions. Mental health arises from practicing what my own trajectory and experience have forged as my values. The more I take ownership of it, the more I am living from my own self.